10 Household Ingredients to Help Your Garden & Natural Pest Repellants

***UPDATED 5/31/24***

Did you know you can use household pantry items to help grow your garden and are great insect/animal repellants? Here are a few tips & tricks:

1. BAKING SODA - Sprinkle it on the surface of your soil to make your geraniums, coneflowers, daylilies, and clematis bloom like crazy. That’s because baking soda is alkaline, and those flowers thrive on alkaline soil. Also makes your tomatoes sweeter. You can use it to prevent fungus because its alkalinity creates an environment hostile to fungal growth. Simply stir a teaspoon of baking soda into a liter of water and spray the leaves of your fungus-prone plants (these include tomatoes and lilacs).
   
2. CREAM OF TARTAR -  makes a great ant repellant, simply sprinkle a bit on the perimeter of the table or wherever you want to dust their trail.
3. CAYENNE PEPPER - Repel squirrels, these little buggers like to dig flower bulbs. To deter them, sprinkle cayenne pepper around your bulb gardens. Reapply when you see the squirrels returned.
4. WHITE VINEGAR - Gets rid of algae. Just spray it with full-strength distilled white vinegar on your patio and voila it's gone!! You can also turn your pink hydrangeas blue with vinegar. Vinegar also enhances the soil of acid-loving plants like azaleas, rhododendrons, and gardenias. Use a cup of white distilled vinegar to a gallon of tap water.
5. OLIVE OIL - Rub olive oil onto the cutting and digging surfaces of your garden tools, as well as on your lawn mower blades. This will repel dirt and rust and make it easier to clean them next time.
6. DISH SOAP - Get rid of those pesky bugs eating your flowers and veggies. Combine liquid dish soap with water at a ratio of 2 tablespoons per gallon to create a mixture of slightly less than 1 percent soap. Mix together well. Pour the mixture into a garden sprayer or spray bottle if you prepared it in a different container. Repeat the application every four to seven days until the pests are sufficiently controlled. Use only a mild liquid dish soap that does not contain a degreaser and is not intended for use with a dishwashing machine.
7. COFFEE GROUNDS - Attracts earthworms and other microorganisms. They are naturally acidic and high in nutrients plants need like nitrogen and potassium, which can be very beneficial – a great way to neutralize alkaline soils or enrich nutrient-poor gardens.

8. **CANOLA OIL AND IVORY SOAP - Help rid mites, aphids, and mealy bugs. Mix one tablespoon of canola oil and a few drops of Ivory soap into a quart of water. Shake well and pour into a spray bottle. Spray plants from above down, and from below up to get the underside of the leaves. The oil smothers the insects.

9. **EGGS - For Deer control: Mix one whole egg with a quarter cup of water and mix well. Pour the mixture into a pump bottle and spray it on your plants. This deterrent will withstand light rains because the egg sticks to the leaves.
10. **BANANAS - Chop up banana peels, then bury them in the soil when you plant tomatoes, rosebushes, or green pepper plants. The potash and phosphorous content in the peels will enrich the soil and strengthen your plants.

Do you have helpful hints to encourage our gardens to grow and/or natural pest repellants that you use? Comment below and share your tips!

Keep it sassy,

Kelly

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